


Family Bonds

by knightlymuse



Series: Decisions [4]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Humanstuck, Oops, idk I might like this one better?, sometimes I get ideas and I like to run with them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-30
Updated: 2013-03-06
Packaged: 2017-11-27 12:25:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/661976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightlymuse/pseuds/knightlymuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[HUMANSTUCK] It's been months since you left home, but it feels like so much longer. Yet sometimes shit hits the fan and you have some decisions to make; you're just never sure if they're the right one.</p><p>[Starts out with an alternate version of Chapter Ten of Things and goes from there]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

You’d resigned yourself to not sleeping as you thought over what to do, but one blink and suddenly it’s morning. You have no idea when that happened, and despite how early your phone tells you it is, you’re not even tired.

That voicemail is still staring at you.

You brace yourself as you get into your voicemail and play the message. If worse comes to worst, you’ll just be angry for a while, maybe vent your feelings instead of bottling them up for a change. In fact, you’re totally prepared to be angry at whatever she says.

But once you actually hear her words, all that anger sinks to your stomach and forms a hard knot of guilt.

If you hadn’t heard it for yourself, you wouldn’t even believe that your mother was capable of forming words like that. And her tone… you’d never heard anything like that in her voice before.

Fuck, you think this lump in your throat is messing with your eyes. They weren’t leaking before.

You grab the pack of smokes you kept hidden for emergencies and make your way to the roof, shoving your phone in your pocket. You kind of want to be alone right now, to think about what she’d said. Thankfully, it seems like Dirk and Dave aren’t up yet, so it’s relatively easy for you to sneak up and out. The morning is cool, which is kind of refreshing. You sit down and light up a cig, grimacing at the taste. It’s been a while since you’d had one.

You listen to the message again as you work your way through your smoke. It doesn’t help your feelings at all; you just feel guiltier. You hadn’t expected that your mom would actually miss you. Your sister and Meenah, sure. But you’d thought they’d be better off without you. Yet from your mom’s tone, it doesn’t sound like anyone is. And as much as you’d been fighting it, you kind of miss them too.

You sort of want to go home. But Dirk and Dave have done a lot for you; you don’t just want to up and ditch them, either. Quite frankly, you don’t have any clue what the fuck you should do. You may be in over your head here.

You toss the butt from your first smoke over the edge of the building and light up again immediately. You doubt that anyone would even be awake for you to talk to. And you think that for once, that’s what you need to do.

Until someone wakes up, though, you’re going to stay up here by yourself. You kind of like it. No one’s bugging you, and since it’s early enough… you let yourself cry, just a bit. You stop yourself before it turns into any kind of sobbing, but it’s still enough that you can feel your chest hurting from your emotions. Your cigarette had gone out, and you toss that one over the edge too before you wipe your eyes. Once your face is dry, you sullenly light up a third cig, trying to smoke away your troubles.

You keep smoking, lighting up smoke after smoke as you try to not think about anything. After your fifth or sixth one, though, it hits you just how much of a heavy smoker you aren’t; you’re not even able to finish the one in your hand. You toss it, and looking down makes you a little dizzy and fuck, is everything just affecting your stomach today? It must be, and you grab onto the edge of the building as you lean your head over, the remnants of what you’d eaten last night reappearing, tinged with the taste of smoke and bile. Fucking disgusting. Hopefully no one had their windows open already this morning.

Well shit. Someone must’ve, because after what seems like forever you can hear footsteps. Probably someone coming to see what was making that god-awful racket that is you hurling chunks over the side of the building. You don’t care; you’re not even paying attention to the footsteps as they get closer, and you retch briefly. Finally, though, nothing comes up.

“Hey Bro, I found her.”

Someone mutters something and suddenly you’re being pulled up like you were some kind of rag doll. Somehow you manage to look grumpy as you’re set on your feet. “Can’t a girl puke in private?”

“Not when the girl’s puking over the edge of the fucking _roof_.” Dirk looks less than amused as he surveys you. “We got a toilet you know.”

“Yeah. I know.” That came out angrier than you were expecting, but you still shrug it off and lead the way back inside. You’re not quite ready to process more shit this early.

Once you’re inside, you head straight to the bathroom to wash off your face and rinse out your mouth without a word. You’re not even paying attention to the guys; you still kind of want to be alone. From the bathroom you go to your room and lay down, covered up. You still aren’t tired, not even close, but the solitude is nice. It’s only interrupted once, by Dave asking you if you wanna go hang out with John and everyone, but when you don’t answer he leaves with what sounds like a sigh.

Great, now you feel guilty for being moody. Fuck.

Well, being moody is getting you absolutely nowhere. You think your therapist would be a bit disappointed at you going backwards, too. And that leaves only one option – asking someone for help.

You probably should apologize for your mood anyway.

When you roll over, Lil Cal’s right there on the bed, just chilling beside you. You vaguely wonder just how long he’s been there and how the hell someone got him so close to you without you hearing them, but you simply shrug it off. You grab him and put him over your shoulder, slinking out to the living room with your metaphoric tail between your legs to search for someone. And you’re not disappointed; Dirk’s right there on the couch. You place Lil Cal beside him before you sit beside Lil Cal, and you slowly start losing resolve. There’s an awkward silence between the two of you as you watch TV. During a commercial, you clear your throat and let out a small “sorry for being so moody” without looking at him.

“We were kinda worried when we couldn’t find you this morning,” he says. “Your bed empty, you weren’t anywhere in the apartment. We thought maybe you’d left.”

“No,” you say, shaking your head and wow, you don’t want to talk about this. “I just needed a bit of time alone. Sorry for making you worry. Just…” You pull out your phone and get into your voicemail. “My mom left this for me last night.”

He’s quiet as it plays. Once it’s done playing he’s still quiet, hands clasped in front of his face. You watch him warily before speaking. “What should I do?”

“That ain’t for me to tell you,” he says. “Better question; what do you want to do?”

“I… don’t know,” you say. “I mean… I kinda felt bad about leaving before. But now I just feel like an asshole. I wasn’t expecting people to care this much, ya know?”

“It’s your family, of course they’re gunna care.” He turns his head to stare right at you. “Fuck, I’d be worried if Dave pulled that shit. Just like I was worried when we thought you pulled that shit.”

Ow, yeah, definitely not feeling any less guilty or rotten. “But I still didn’t think it would affect them so bad. At least, it didn’t seem like it. The first night after I’d left I got angry stuff from my mom, not this sad stuff.”

“Well, look. The choice is yours. I’m not going to make you go back if you don’t want to, that much should be obvious. But if it’s upsetting you this bad, then you at least owe them a call. What’s your sister’s name?”

“Aranea,” you say, still watching him warily. He mutes the television and snatches the phone from your hand against your protests. He brings up her number and presses the call button, turning on your speaker phone.

You would shriek if you weren’t struck dumb.

It rings and you really don’t want to talk to anyone until you’re at least not as upset, but he’s holding the phone out of your reach. That doesn’t stop you from trying to snatch it out of his hands, though. He’s looking at you sternly and you stop, just waiting.

Someone picks up, eventually; you hear hushed voices before it goes silent. You don’t even think as you grab ahold of Lil Cal and hold onto him for dear life, just staring up at the tiny phone in Dirk’s hand. Someone, Meenah you think, mumbles something about being butt-dialed before being shushed, and finally someone says something you can audibly hear.

“Hello?” It sounds like she has her speaker phone on too.

You kind of feel sick again.

“Hello? Oh, maybe you were right, maybe she did butt-dial me…”

“I’m here,” you say. It comes out smaller than you’d intended, but judging by the silence on the other end you know they heard you anyway.

“Vriska?” She sounds relieved to hear from you. “Vriska, sweetheart, where are you? We’ve been trying to find you for ages…”

“I… I’m staying with some really good friends. I, uh, got mom’s message last night…”

“Oh. Oh! She dropped by today to tell me about that. So are you coming home then?”

“I…” You look to Dirk again. He shakes his head and points to you with his free hand, reiterating that it’s your decision to make. You’d heard the excitement that had crept up whenever your sister had asked, but… “I don’t know.”

“What?” Aranea sounds disappointed. “Vriska you need to come home, it’s been months…”

“Hey I told you before not to push her bout that. I told you she’d come back when she’s ready. No one listens to me, geez.” Meenah sounds exasperated when she says that, and you can’t help but let out a smile of relief. “I told you that ages ago yo.”

“Meenah!” Aranea’s taking that scandalized tone she sometimes takes to prove a point to her girlfriend; you can’t help but smile a bit more. Fuck, you missed that. “I’m on the phone!”

Dirk looks amused. “Hey, I can’t help but overhear,” he starts, “but whoever’s in the background there makes a damn good point. I mean fuck, she looks sick even talking to you right now, you think she’s gunna come home now just cause you ask?”

“Hey whoa, who the shell are you?” Meenah asks. It sounds like she’d taken the phone from your sister and you can picture the scene in your head, Meenah holding the phone at the end of one arm while keeping Aranea at the end of the other, and as much as it makes you smile it also makes your heart want to explode from how much it misses these two.

“Oh yeah. I’m the guy that’s been feeding and housing Vriska. Dirk Strider, at your service. Your sister’s friends with my little bro.”

“At least she’s safe,” Aranea says. “Vriska, are you still there? Are you sure you don’t want to come home?”

“Yeah, for now,” you respond. “I… fuck, I don’t know. I still need to think about this.”

“How about a compromise?” Aranea asks. “We’ll all meet somewhere to discuss the possibility of you coming home. You, Meenah, and I, and Mom will be there too.” You make a face at that; no matter what you do not feel ready enough to talk with your mother. “You can bring Mr. Strider with you, both of them.”

This makes you feel better, and you nod before you realize that nodding is not an action that can be heard. Dirk takes the opportunity to laugh at you before replying to your sister. “Yeah, she’s good with that. She nodded, but generally people can’t hear that.”

“Good!” Aranea sounds more cheerful now. “How about next week? Will that work for you?”

“Yeah, sure. My work’s pretty flexible.” Dirk finishes up making plans to meet up with your sister while you flop backwards onto the couch, Lil Cal still in your grasp. This too seems to be happening pretty fast; it almost seems surreal. When your sister says goodbye you try to roll over stubbornly; however this just ends up with you rolling onto the floor.

At least Lil Cal sort of broke your fall.

Dirk ends the call as you stand up. “Fuck, shit. Sorry dude didn’t mean to land on you.” You set the puppet back up on the couch as he was, but fuck does he stare up at you. It’s unnerving and you look away from him. “So, all set then?”

“Yeah.” Dirk gives you a stern look. “You still look like you’re gunna be sick, though.”

“Well, yeah. I kinda feel like I might be. It was… well it went better than I expected, at least.” Which is true. “At least Mom wasn’t there, I would have grabbed the phone from you or bolted or something.”

“Hey, you did fine,” he says, tossing the phone to you. “Better than I thought you would at least. And you’re only committed to getting food with your mom and sister. Told you, no one’s forcing you to do a damn thing.”

You nod as you catch the phone. “Yeah, I know. It just feels… weird. I mean, it’s been so long since I’ve seen them and now I’m gunna go see them soon? It’s just… It’s weird. No better word for it.”

“Hey, at least you aren’t alone in this. Dave and I are going with you. You’ll be fine. Worse comes to worst you stay with us forever, no big deal. Now fuck, go be sick or eat or something, I don’t think you ate today.”

“Yeah yeah,” you say, shoving your phone in your pocket. You don’t feel as sick anymore, so you think you can stomach some food. “I’m on it.” You don’t grab much, though, just a bag of chips, before you head to your room.

As you plop down on your bed, you can’t help but going over everything in your head. And you’re still nervous, maybe even more so now that you’ve talked to your sister. As much as you liked hearing her voice again, knowing that you have to go and meet her is a whole different story. You’re not sure you’re ready for that just yet.

But you don’t really have a choice.


	2. Chapter Two

There is no way you’re ready for this shit.

You’re going to meet your sister and her girlfriend for lunch. Awesome. But your mom is going to be there and that… Doesn’t sound as awesome.

At least it’s not for a few more hours.

You wake up ridiculously early, around six in the morning or so. You’re too wired to go back to sleep so you toss and turn until finally you haul your ass out of bed, reaching for the glasses you normally keep beside your bed.

But you come up empty.

How in the fuck did you lose your glasses? You keep them on your face unless you’re in the shower or asleep. Sometimes not even then. Frustrated, you search for the contacts you keep in case your glasses break, and thank all the gods out there that you actually remembered them when you’d left because you’d be fucked otherwise. Your vision is good enough that you can make your way to the bathroom without help, and once you get in the first thing you do is put those things in your eyes.

It makes such a difference to your face, and it’s one that you dislike.

You stick your tongue out at your reflection before leaving the bathroom, putting the container for your contacts away and grabbing some clothes for a shower. When you step into the hot water, it’s a relief; you wish it could literally wash your nerves about this meeting away. Every time you think about it you just imagine it going badly in various ways, shapes, and forms. Today is no exception and you wish that you never had to leave the shower.

But you do. Almost as soon as you step out there’s a knocking on the door. “Hold your tits, I’m busy in here!” you tell whoever it is, wrapping a towel securely around yourself. Fuck it, you’re not going to change in the bathroom now. You just grab your shit and open the door, and there’s Dave waiting almost impatiently.

“God fucking dammit Vris put some clothes on!” He covers his eyes and you can’t help but laugh as you walk past him, making sure your arm hits his.

“What, did I hurt your poor virgin eyes Davey?” you ask between laughs. He looks like such a dork as he acts like he’s scandalized that you can’t help but be amused by him.

“Yeah, that’s it. I’ll never see right again thanks to you,” he says as he shuts the door behind him. But you saw the beginning of a smirk; you know he’s just teasing you.

Once you’re dressed, you leave your bedroom and head to the kitchen to get something for breakfast. You’re not really hungry, but eventually you settle on toast in the living room in front of the TV. Dirk’s already there, flipping through channels.

“I didn’t leave my glasses out here, did I?” you ask as you flop down beside him. “I can’t find them.”

He shrugs, settling on one of those music video channels. “I’m sure they’ll turn up.”

“I hope so,” you reply before nibbling at your breakfast. The music videos are a distraction, to say the least. You’re surprised that some channels still actually play them. Watching bodies gyrate to music that will be stuck in your head for days to come is at least better than worrying about later.

You don’t want to think about later at all.

But of course, once breakfast is done and the videos start getting repetitive, you can’t help but slip into that worry. You have no idea what to expect today; but as Dirk had said, if worse comes to worst you’re just living with them for forever. Yet you’re fidgeting, still. You’ve walked around the apartment a few times and changed your outfit more times than you can count just to have something to do.

At least you’ve made a dent in the morning. You’ve changed your clothes one last time, into something nice considering it’s a pretty damn nice restaurant and your reunion with your family. While the boys are getting ready you’ve buried your face into one of the couch cushions, and you’re pretty sure Lil Cal is sitting on your butt. Dave must’ve come out to get his outfit checked by Dirk; you hear something vaguely sounding like “David Elizabeth I told you not to wear that, go change and leave the screwdriver at home!”

As interesting as that sounds, you don’t feel like lifting up your head to see what Dave was wearing. You’re just waiting to go so that this can be over with.

“Hey Vris, get up.” Dirk’s tugging on your arm and you reluctantly sit up, and when you get a good look at him you can’t help but stare.

“A suit? Really?” you ask, looking skeptical.

“It’s just a casual one. Gotta show your family you’ve been in quality care, ya know,” he says as you stand up. You look down at the clothes you’re wearing; they’re nice but nowhere near as fancy as even a casual suit and you debate changing one more time. But before you can head back to your room, Dave comes out in a similar outfit and the three of you are heading out the door.

And you never did find your glasses, either.

For the most part, the car ride is quiet. You don’t feel like talking as you lean against the window, arms crossed and squinting against the sun. Dave and Dirk haven’t been talkative either, aside from singing along to whatever came on the radio. By the time Dirk pulls in you’re wondering just how far you’d be able to run before one of the guys tackled you. Considering how quick the Strider men are you don’t think you’d get too far and you sulk, throwing that idea away.

No, you’re not ready for this at all.

You don’t leave the vehicle right away. In fact, you take long enough that Dave comes to check on you. You just lean onto Dave whenever he opens the door and give him a look that threatens mutiny. In return he steps away so that you almost topple out of the car. With a sigh you step out, looking around the parking lot. You can see your sister’s car in another section and you start having mixed feelings about this whole idea again.

“Think it’s too late to call this off and go home?” you mumble.

“If my ass is out here in a suit I’m putting it to good use,” Dave says. “Chill, you’ll be fine.”

“I think I got just the thing,” Dirk says, reaching into a pocket of his.

“Is it tequila?”

“No, we didn’t have any of that.” Dirk hands you a small box and you take it. Curiously, you open it and when you see what’s inside you can’t help but grin broadly and grab them both into a hug. They both seem surprised at this outburst, but there’s no doubt they’re pleased all the same whenever you put the shades onto your face.

“You’re a Strider, kid, no matter what happens today,” Dirk says as he leads the way forward.

When he says that, it does make you feel a little bit better. And the shades definitely help too.

They’ve been waiting for you at the entrance. Aranea’s turning her head every which way, and when you come into her sight she doesn’t hesitate to come up to you and give you a hug. You think your ribs might be crushed, but you return her hug all the same. “I’m glad you’re alright,” she says, finally letting you go.

“Yeah, ‘m fine,” you say as you notice the figure standing beside the door. Out of habit and despite your aviators, you glare at the figure of your mother.

You don’t know if she sees your glare or not, but she sends one your way too.

Someone nudges you forward, causing you to stop focusing on your mother for the time being. Your group enters the restaurant, with everyone introducing themselves as they do so. They start chattering away, mostly Aranea and Dirk talking about your life with the Striders. You remain quiet, not paying attention to them at all. By the time you’re settled at your table and everyone’s ordered, you’re starting to relax just a little.

“A’ight lil guppy whatcha been up to since you’ve been away?” Meenah asks.

You shrug. “Normal teenage stuff,” you say, keeping your focus on her.

“That can be a lotta things.”

“Yup.”

You hear your mother mutter something and you snap your head to look in her direction. You’re glaring again, you can feel it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” you say, and out of the corner of your eye you swear you see Aranea flinch. Just like the good old days that you’ve never missed.

“I didn’t say anything, darling,” she replies, and that tone of hers brings up so many memories of doors slammed and holding a knife in debate on using it to take out your anger against yourself behind said door. You think your eyes are starting to hurt from the intensity of your glare and you force your gaze away, muttering something about old hags under your breath. Your sister makes a noise and Dave quirks an eyebrow, but nothing else is said.

You’re rather happy whenever your food arrives and you can stuff your face instead of talking. While you’re eating you’re mostly quiet, aside from Meenah goofing off with Aranea and the occasional laugh from Dirk or Dave from their antics. Once there’s a lull in the talking, Dirk sets his fork down to speak. “At some point we need to get to the point of why we’re actually here.”

“We do,” Aranea replies, and you can feel a few sets of eyeballs. You keep messing around with your food in an effort to pretend you don’t notice them at all.

“There’s nothing that needs to be said,” your mother puts in. “She needs to come home, and that’s that. I’m glad she was safe while she was away, but she’s been away long enough. She has school and other responsibilities that she needs to deal with. Her days of wandering around without a purpose are over.”

You scowl, but before you can snap Dirk’s speaking. “School isn’t an issue. We managed to get her into a cyber-school program, she’s been doing pretty fucking awesome if I say so myself.”

You nod in agreement, sending a little smirk over to your mother. She doesn’t look like she appreciates the gesture. “Nevertheless. This stunt of hers is over. She’s been missed and she’s coming home.”

“I have a home,” you say to her. “A better home than I had with you. Where people actually are concerned when I’m missing in the morning, and where I can actually talk about how I’m feeling a certain way without being jumped on.”

Something seemed to have gotten to your mother as she drops her gaze from you; however, when she seems to be ready to speak up again Aranea cuts across her. “Vriska, we missed you. We all did. Mother just wants what she thinks is best.” Everyone is silent again, and you’re remembering the voicemail your mother sent you; she’d actually sounded upset, but even seeing her in person neither of you seem to be ready to quite make up.

“…What if I don’t wanna give her up?” Dave asks, grabbing onto your arm like a lost child, yet his face is dead serious. You snort with laughter into the broken silence as Dirk reaches across you to affectionately whap his little brother upside his head.

The rest of your little group laughs, some more than others. “Yeah well tough shit shade buoy, we had her first,” Meenah says with a smile on her face. “Could always fight ya for her though.”

“You’re on, I can take you,” Dave says, but he’s smiling as well and thank whatever higher power that this is all in good fun because you don’t think you could stand a serious competition right now.

“Alright you two, I don’t think we need to settle it like that,” your mother says. You look to her again and to your relief she’s not glaring, or even looking remotely angry. “Vriska, I’m glad to know that you’re safe. But I would like you to consider coming back home.” There’s something in her voice that you can’t place; it doesn’t sound like anger, so you take it as a good sign.

You frown. “I don’t know.”

“I’m sure that we could work on your… our, our problems, better, if you came back.”

You never came to a decision about what you wanted to do, and you look over to Dirk for an answer. He shakes his head, just as he had before, and you pout momentarily. You don’t know if your mom's right, mostly because you’re not sure if the two of you can ever get along. Trying to stall answering you play with what remains on your plate, mumbling to yourself. Despite how you’d pictured everything going, you’d never come to a decision about your situation. You don’t want to leave Dirk and Dave after all they’ve done, but you don’t want to leave your family behind either.

“…Vriska, if you’re having trouble thinking, can I make an offer?” Aranea asks. You look up to her and nod for her to continue. With a smile of relief, she continues. “Meenah and I found an apartment of our own. We’ll be moving into it in just a few weeks. If you’re not ready to go back home to Mother, you’re welcome to stay with us. There will be room for you, I made sure of it.”

“Yeah, won’t be no trouble to have you ‘round,” Meenah adds. “But no pressure, I mean sheesh you look like you’re gunna pull a muscle or something.”

Like the mature person you are, you stick your tongue out at her.

“What do you think, Mister Strider?” your mother asks. Immediately you turn to watch Dirk, putting your tongue back in your mouth. “You’ve been rather quiet on the subject,” she elaborates.

“Well, if you want my honest opinion it’s her call. But forcing her to choose ain’t gunna do shit,” he puts bluntly. “I mean fuck, you put her in the corner and it’s like pulling teeth to get a response from her.” Your mother blinks and you suppress a grin; you don’t think she was expecting this. “I can’t say what’ll be better for her. I know what I heard, though, which was that she was moody and bratty while she was with you and she was worried bout her grades and shit because she didn’t wanna disappoint y’all. And I don’t think her little friend issue helped either.” At this your relatives look confused and you turn to shoot Dave a bemused look. Dave just shrugs at this, but obviously he had to have told Dirk about some things before he’d taken you in.

“What friend issue?” your mother asks, but you just shake your head. You’re still sore about that subject.

“Doesn’t matter now,” Dirk continues. “Let’s just say she’s getting past her issues and doing better. Therapy helps.” Your mother scoffs and her eyes narrow minutely, but your face is set.

“At least she’s doing better,” Aranea says. “Thank you, for helping her. Anything we can do in return…?”

Dirk shakes his head. “Nah. If stubborn here ever reaches a conclusion, just make sure she keeps doing better if she goes with you.”

You stick your tongue out at him too, and he smirks. “I don’t know what I want,” you say. “I mean, I’d like to be back with my family, but Dirk and Dave did a lot for me so I’d feel like a dick leaving them.”

“Language,” your mother cautions, to which you roll your eyes. You’ve said worse.

“You act like we’d go away easily,” Dave says. “Nice try, but no, not happening.”

“So…?” Aranea asks, hopeful.

“So, I guess I’m going to stay with you and Meenah. Your walls better be thick though.” You can’t help but grin a little at that, as your sister’s face turns red.

“Well, I’m glad. I’ll let you know when we’re moving in, since I’m assuming you’d rather stay with the Striders until then.”

You nod. “Yeah, I would.”

“Then it’s settled!” Aranea says, still flushed in the face but smiling all the same.

Until the bill arrives, everyone resumes their idle chatter, but this time you actually participate. When it’s time to leave you give your sister another hug, and reluctantly you get one from your mother as well. The car ride home is much, much better than the one you’d had to the restaurant, too.

Today went so much better than you thought it would.

It’s still relatively early in the afternoon by the time you three get home, yet you feel somewhat exhausted. Probably your sleep issues catching up to you. But you decide against a nap, opting instead to change into more comfortable clothes. When you come out, Dave’s working on his music in his room and Dirk’s getting ready to head to work, so you scoop up the remote and start channel surfing to your heart’s content.

You’re pretty wrapped up in a show you’ve found when you feel someone tapping against your head.

“You sure you’re okay with this, lil girl?” Dirk asks, peering down at you.

“I think so. I always got along with Aranea and Meenah, and if this thing with my mom goes to shit I don’t think she’ll force me to stay in touch with her.”

He nods. “As long as you’re okay with this. And you still have time to change your mind if you have any second thoughts.”

“Yeah, I know.” You frown, as a thought crosses your mind. “Hey, promise me something.”

“Depends on what it is.”

“If the whole thing ends up going to shit, promise me I can come back.”

He doesn’t even look surprised. “Course I do. You’re a Strider, remember?”

“Swear it,” you say, holding out your pinkie. It may seem childish, but it’s reassuring all the same when he crosses his pinkie finger over yours.

“Promise, kid.”

“Thanks Bro.”

There’s something you can’t read in his face, but being unable to read his expression isn’t new. What is new is that this is a different emotion this time; pride or something? But before you can think about it too long he’s heading to the kitchen and pulling something out of a drawer. “Oh hey, almost forgot about these. I figured you shouldn’t have them till after you got your honorary shades,” he says as he comes back.

You snatch your glasses back, but you can’t even hold your mock-angry face for more than a second before laughing. “You little fucker!”

“Glad to be of service,” he says, messing up your hair before walking out the door.


End file.
